Welcome to Fat City Cigar Lounge home of a great variety of cool music, outstanding cocktails, good smokes, and lively conversation.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Ralph E. Hayes - The Long Drive Home

Long Drive Home, the debut album by Tennessee guitarist Ralph E. Hayes, is not easy to categorize. Although moody and relaxed, this instrumental disc isn't new age, nor is Hayes a flamboyant, hell-bent-for-chops hard rock shredder in Steve Vai/Joe Satriani/Randy Coven vein. And he isn't an acoustic folk-rock picker along the lines of John Fahey, Leo Kottke, Peter Lang, or Stefan Grossman. So exactly where does Hayes' instrumental rock fit in?

Arguably, Long Drive Home should be described as neo-surf rock. Hayes' electric guitar playing owes a lot to Dick Dale and Duane Eddy -- the '60s influence is quite strong on this 2004 release, and Hayes is obviously well aware of the Ventures, the Challengers, and other surf bands that were popular back then. But Long Drive Home isn't a carbon copy of '60s surf rock any more than Alicia Keys is a carbon copy of her '70s influences, and at times, Long Drive Home almost suggests Chris Isaak without vocals.

You won't find anything as exuberant as "Wipeout" or "Hawaii Five-O" (two Ventures hits) on this CD; Hayes' instrumentals are reflective, shadowy, and laid-back, which is why he likes to describe his style as "guitar noir." That term, of course, is based on the term film noir, but Long Drive Home doesn't sound like background music from '40s film noir classics such as Laura, The Postman Always Rings Twice, and Gilda -- if anything, Hayes' work owes more to the sort of background music one might have expected from a Dennis Hopper movie in the '60s or '70s. Long Drive Home is a likable, fairly intriguing debut for the Tennessee guitarist. Alex Henderson all music

3 comments:

You've got me curious.With a review like that how could i pass this one up.Speaking of guitar noir.Have you heard the new Aqua Velvets album yet?I haven't but it me thinking about tracking that one down.

Tried to dl this but sharebee now has a forest of pop ups and the rapidshare links die almost immediately I have a pop up blocker but sharebee and places like zshare seem to have worked out how to get around them causing my computer to seize up for a while until I worked out how to shut them down

Its frustrating and pointless how do they expect to sell stuff by using coercion?

Hey All Fat City Lounge Patrons:

Lounge Rules:No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service. Just Kidding. Come as you are, you can even take your clothes off when you dance. (In the back room).For Real:1. Lively Discussion is encourgaged -- foul language and other types of impunation of character is not. Evil will be deleted.

2. The Music posts are for enjoyment and evaluation purposes only. If you like it -- Please, go buy it, and support the artists who produce it and perfom it. Go to their shows, buy their t-shirts, etc. The independents we showcase need your help to make more cool music. Otherwise, You-Know-Who Wins. If you don't like what you hear, please delete it out of your computer to make room for stuff you do like.

3. All other contributions are welcome, and will be posted at proprietor's discretion

About Me

Fun stuff:
Am a musicholic - I'm 52 -- I heard my first Ventures song in '66 and have been a fan of twang ever since. Of course all the other guitar gods were added over the years, along with a lot of other great music. I have been a DJ in my younger years on air -- WPFW and in clubs and currently produce a local television show about the performing arts.